Application of Large-Scale Inversion Algorithms to Hydraulic Tomography in an Alluvial Aquifer.

Large-scale inversion methods have been recently developed and permitted now to considerably reduce the computation time and memory needed for inversions of models with a large amount of parameters and data. In this work, we have applied a deterministic geostatistical inversion algorithm to a hydraulic tomography investigation conducted in an experimental field site situated within an alluvial aquifer in Southern France. This application aims to achieve a 2-D large-scale modeling of the spatial transmissivity distribution of the site. The inversion algorithm uses a quasi-Newton iterative process based on a Bayesian approach. We compared the results obtained by using three different methodologies for sensitivity analysis: an adjoint-state method, a finite-difference method, and a principal component geostatistical approach (PCGA). The PCGA is a large-scale adapted method which was developed for inversions with a large number of parameters by using an approximation of the covariance matrix, and by avoiding the calculation of the full Jacobian sensitivity matrix. We reconstructed high-resolution transmissivity fields (composed of up to 25,600 cells) which generated good correlations between the measured and computed hydraulic heads. In particular, we show that, by combining the PCGA inversion method and the hydraulic tomography method, we are able to substantially reduce the computation time of the inversions, while still producing high-quality inversion results as those obtained from the other sensitivity analysis methodologies.

Rotation due to hydrodynamic interactions between two spheres in contact.

We analyze the rotational and translational motion of two close spheres in a fluid at low Reynolds number to investigate if their surfaces come into mechanical contact. The rotational motion of a sphere settling close to another fixed ball is calculated from a model in which contact interactions between the spheres are added to the gravitational and hydrodynamic forces. The model predicts a transition from pure rolling to rolling with slip, determined by the Coulomb's law, when the ratio of the mechanical friction to the load increases up to the static friction coefficient. The dependence of the angular and translational velocities on the kinetic friction coefficient and on the separation between the particle surfaces is analyzed. The angular and translational velocities of a millimeter size bead in a viscous oil, close to a fixed bead of a similar size, are measured from video images. Interferometric data on translational motion are also collected according to the method introduced in our earlier studies. A systematic fitting procedure of the model to the experiment is developed and applied to the rotational and translational measurements. The model parameters are determined.

Pheochromocytoma and secondary erythrocytosis: role of tumour erythropoietin secretion.

Certain neoplasias can induce unregulated erythropoietin (EPO) secretion which results in secondary erythrocytosis. Pheochromocytoma associated with erythrocytosis constitute a rare condition, where the secondary red cell abnormality is believed to be due to tumour EPO secretion. In one such case of pheochromocytoma related erythrocytosis, quantitative determination of serum EPO by enzyme immunoassay was combined with immunohistochemical examination of tumour tissue sections to locate the site of EPO secretion. EPO levels were initially high but decreased after tumour surgery, while immunolocalization showed EPO to be secreted by the neoplastic cells.